Morning all,
My first discussion in SFN! Hopefully the first of many although this one is a little boring.
Does anyone know if you can correctly dispose of asbestos for free at the decheterie or somewhere similar? Seems obsurd that I should have to pay for its disposal by a private firm and if so, what exactly would they do with it anyway?
Bonjournee!
I find they are normally pretty helpful but ours was much the same - best of luck.
thank you all, will certainly pass this on to mon soeur and hopefully do the right thing about replacing it - the Mairie was no help at all just gve me lots of roofer names and address' who are not necessarily specialists. So just hope their insurance covers this, many thanks again.
We were charged €24 the m2, plus some other charges and, of course, tax. I think the dechetterie might just have been exagerating. Nonetheless, for four large sacks each containing about 2m2 and less than half an hour it cost us over €200.
Quick Update:
Mairie = You must pay a private company to do so, no facilities locally.
Ploërmel Dechetterie (for the 2nd time) = It is a major problem throughout France and we would expect there to be something sorted in the next couple of years. We get many queries each week and the best we can say is either: -
a) keep hold of it until its free to dispose of in a few years.
b) pay an extortion racket or the only local company 100€ per m2!!!!!
c) Forget b. Just keep hold of it or accidentally lose it somewhere/to someone.
Parfait - Reminds me of that well known film "How I learned to stop worrying and love the amiante"
Just like to express my gratitude to all those whom have contributed - Thankyou. Keep you posted.
Some of you may have seen the documentary a good few years ago now, about claims made by those working in 'sick' buildings in the USA, often skyscrapers, which had been built using asbestos insulation. One of the the biggest companies in the world for it's manufacture/conversion was Turner & Newall. Often the accelerated claim culture in the states meant that people received substantial payouts. One of the company's major factories was in Armley in Leeds. In dry weather the 'fluff' from the plant would fall like snow in the surrounding area; even banking up into drifts against walls in the streets. Local kids would make 'snowballs' and throw them at each other. Workers, of course, would catch the dust on their clothing and take it into their homes with them each evening. Emphysema and related lung disorders became very common amongst many of those associated with the company in the area. Their compensation? Well, very poor by comparison to those claiming from North America.
We rented a building for our Ad Agency in Brighton which had been built using asbestos... We didn't discover for a few years why some of our staff had felt unwell whilst working there. The building was owned by Turner and Newall's pension fund. We moved on!
So...Dangerous stuff when it is not in its compressed state and in demolition situations!
Hi Jennifer, as I think has already been mentioned on here, if the sheets are intact then there is generally not a problem, however if they break or are chaffing in anyway, then they will release the micro fibres into the air. Same applies if you drill or hammer nails through the sheets.
In terms of insurance, it will come down to your insurance policy and my advice will always be to have the removal done by a professional asbestos removal outfit - and at the same time, you give your house a cleaner bill of health.
As Brian says - it's not cheap and will be estimated on a case by case basis.
It is expensive to have removed. Go to your mairie to ask, if they do not know then try some of the roofing firms in your area. We found out from a dechetterie when we went there to see if they would take it.
Yes I too would like to know more about this subject- my sisters barns is covered with it, and the last strong winds we had had broken several sheets of it - who are the specialists ? do the assurance pay for this ?or how much does it cost to replace and remove asbestos ?
Ten years ago we took down about ten sheets off a timber structure which we then made into an exposed pergola. The sheets were all intact and I told a local farmer about it and he was pleased to take them away for nothing to repair his own sheds. Job done- and gratuit! I still have one small piece over our garden privy which I have done a fetching trompe d'oeil and grown russian vine over it. While you at it don't dispose of out of date breath test kits in your garden either- they are very toxic it seems.
Funnily enough I tried to take some corrugated asbestos cement off a shed roof to Ploermel tip last week. They wouldn't accept it. Their suggestions were to incorporate it into cement or to try ROMI, http://www.romi.fr/, who have a branch in Ploermel. They said ROMI might not charge me because the quantity was so small. The staff at Ploermel tip said they envisage having an amiante facility in the future but have no idea when it will happen. If you try out ROMI please let me know how it goes. We took our small amount home again. It can wait a few more years.
Bet they're like my neighbour, selling his eggs as 'organic'.
The regulations in the UK are very tight too, and always an unwelcome cost on a project, when the client always works the budget out on the basis of the designer items they want only. The traditional Eternit asbestos based product went out ages ago but Eternit still makes fibre cement products which can have extremely long and relatively maintenance free lives. Many people suffered through asbestos inhalation and died as a result of it, including the father of a colleague of mine. I would certainly urge anybody handling old sheets to wear appropriate clothing and wear masks, and I'm not one who usually over panders to the H+S business. Somebody in my family recently sold a property and had to indemnify the purchaser against any asbestos removal costs. The company that did the survey even stuck a huge sign on my aunt's ironing board saying it was hazardous. It cost nearly £4k to remove a tiny amount of the material and most of the cost was in reports, safety procedures etc and the like. Thirty years ago it would have all been slung in a skip. This area in Brittany is littered with ruinous asbestos clad chicken sheds which one is pretty sure the farmer has insufficient funds to remove using the authorised procedures- result ugly blot on the landscape and potential long term pollution.
Our local dechetterie refused to take it. We were advised to cut it up and put it in bin bags and get rid of it in the bin (this was some years ago!) We asked at the town hall and they were supposed to check out a place in the local largest town and organise a collection for the village (paying) - this never happened. So we still have them stored in an outhouse and don't know what to do with them.
btw... That's not what I did!
I think it depends on exactly where you live. We have a déchetterie nearby that isn't THAT big, but it has a separate skip for asbestos.
We had a few sheets of fibrociment containing asbestos that we needed rid of, and I took it down there with no problems. If, however, we wanted to get a company to do it for us they'd be obliged to use all the protective gear etc and take it to a specialist place for disposal. And that would cost an arm and a leg. The difference I guess is that if you work with the stuff more regularly you need protection. We were told that fibrociment was about the safest form it can take, and if we didn't cut or saw the stuff there was no problem. It's a question of degree.
If it is all as you say, just close your eyes and not notice as your French neighbours would.
Hi, you all seem to be having better luck than me in Tarn et Garonne. I have a 90 sq m garage with asbestos roof sheeting. It is weatherproof so I am not urgently needing to replace it but it is an eyesore. I have had local builders who take one look and won't even quote for replacement as it is 'tres dangereaux'. Our 2 local dechetterrie refuse point blank and our Marie has investigated and can find no firms that dispose of it. As our garden backs on to the Garonne, it was 'suggested' to float it down river and therefore becomes someone else's problem.
I am now awaiting a devis from the only builder who has offered to quote and I will have no alternative but to accept the quote. Do I (as in UK) have to ensure he is licensed to transport it away?
Colin
Ah yes... those were the days... I think that Jean Luc Godard must have gone there once and then based his whole career on it. But it's all very kosher now... and, when I drove in in my ex BT transit (not a look I can recommend) whilst we were doing our roof...with a just a few (testing...testing) fibro ciment tiles (the diamond jobbies) on board, they gave me very short shrift and wouldn't offer any further guidance as to 'Ou'. You'll have to read the book!... Fancy you knowing Loudeac!